Delta launches non-stop HK-Detroit service

Delta Air Lines’s Hongkong-Detroit non-stop service features lie-flat beds in its BusinessElite cabin, the only one so far of its new trans-Pacific routes to carry the product.

A Boeing B777-200LR aircraft with 45 BusinessElite seats and 233 Economy Class seats is used on the route.

Last week, the US carrier launched the Seoul Incheon-Detroit non-stop service, followed by the Hongkong-Detroit and Beijing-Seattle non-stop services. The Osaka-Seattle non-stop service starts up tomorrow, June 8, 2010.

Members of Delta’s SkyMiles frequent flyer programme, who book this five-times-weekly service, are eligible for up to triple bonus miles in a promotion that runs until September 30. To apply, they must first register at www.delta.com/triple. Members flying Economy Class earn double miles.

“The new non-stop service connects (Hongkong) to 129 destinations from Detroit,” said Vinay Dube, Delta’s senior vice president in Asia-Pacific. “There is lot of demand coming from here for the Mid-West and East Coast.”

Dube added that they were also aiming to attract business from “catchment areas like Shenzhen and Guangdong”.

Previous to the Hongkong-Detroit service, only the Narita-Atlanta and Sydney-Los Angeles Asia-Pacific services boasted flat-beds in their BusinessElite cabins. By 2012, however, these will be present throughout the network. Hallmarks of the product include the innovative creations of celebrity chef Michelle Bernstein and wine selections by Delta’s Master Sommelier Andrea Robinson. Its IFE consists of over 200 movies, a variety of TV programmes, thousands of music titles and a suite of video games.